Strong mentorship can define a postdoc’s experience, but most postdocs are never taught how to build those relationships or how to navigate them when they’re not working. This panel aims to create space for an honest conversation about what postdocs actually need from mentorship, what makes mentoring effective, and how to make those relationships more balanced and sustainable. By bringing together perspectives from postdocs, PIs, and institutional leadership, we hope to highlight both the practical challenges and the opportunities for improving mentoring across the postdoctoral experience.